Unverferth receives tax credit for expansion

Unverferth Manufacturing Co. was recently awarded a state tax credit for their expansion at their Delphos facility. (Times Bulletin/Kirk Dougal)

DELPHOS - Good economic news has been hard to come by in the Van Wert area for the past couple of years but a local company is expanding its operations in its Delphos facility.

Unverferth Manufacturing Company, a family-owned producer of farm equipment including wheel systems, grain handling, tillage, hay handling and spray equipment, is expanding its St. Rt. 697 operations outside of Delphos in Van Wert County with a 90,000-square-foot addition. The project is expected to cost $6.2 million and will keep 92 job positions in the area as well as add 16 more.

On Monday, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announced the state had awarded Unverferth a 35 percent Job Creation Tax Credit for a five-year term for the project. The value of the tax credit is estimated to be just under $60,000 over the term of the agreement. As a condition of the tax credit, Unverferth is required to keep operations at the expansion for a minimum of eight years.

The funds for the state tax credits come from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, Development Financing Advisory Council and the State Controlling Board. In addition to the award to Unverferth, tax credits and other funds were given to ten other Northwestern Ohio companies for expansion or relocation projects that totaled $26.3 million and affected an estimated 4,300 jobs. Most of those projects covered the purchase of new equipment including a Napoleon solar energy company that received $10.5 million.

"Companies are investing in Ohio because they recognize the Ohio advantage - a strong business climate, the lowest business taxes in the Midwest and a reformed education system," said Gov. Strickland in a statement. "Because we've invested in those Ohio advantages, unemployment fell for the sixth straight month, businesses are choosing to locate and grow here and Ohio is poised to emerge from the recession even stronger than we were before."

Calls to the Unverferth Manufacturing headquarters were not immediately returned.